


A Moment Frozen In Time

by ericsonclan



Series: We are Monsters, We are Proud AU [31]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Snow and Ice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28017714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan
Summary: Willy comes up with a special day of fun for himself and Allison.
Relationships: Allison/Willy (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Series: We are Monsters, We are Proud AU [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1699969
Kudos: 3





	A Moment Frozen In Time

**Author's Note:**

> (by Laura)

“Just keep your eyes closed a minute longer!” Willy’s voice broke through the stillness in Allison’s mind as she walked hand in hand with him through the winter snow. Her bare feet drifted through the snow silently, completely unaffected by the chill. It was part and parcel of being an ice maiden: she never felt the cold. As they walked though, her nose tickled a bit as snowflakes began to gather atop it. She wrinkled her nose, trying to loosen the buildup without making a sound.

“Oh shit! Your nose!” Willy’s mittened fingers roughly brushed against Allison’s nose, removing the tiny pile of snow building there. “Sorry. I know you mentioned your skin attracts snow, but I didn’t think it’d get clumped on your face like that,” Suddenly his footsteps stopped. “OK, we’re here!”

Allison opened her eyes and saw… nothing. Well, nothing of interest. They were standing outside the gym at Ericson High beside the empty ice-covered football field. No one else was around since the grounds were closed for winter break. Willy stood with his arms outstretched, spinning round slowly as he proudly displayed their surroundings. “I figured what better place to have fun with your ice powers than at our own school but this time with nobody nearby to get trapped in ice!”

“You were the one that got trapped the first time,” Their first encounter back at the beginning of the school year had certainly been memorable with Allison freezing the entire pool and trapping Willy from the chest down in solid ice. They’d been fast friends ever since.

Willy shrugged happily at her point. “True, but I know better now. Besides, right over here by the field is…” he paused as he ran underneath the bleachers to return a moment later toting a hose, “This bad boy! I dropped by the field on my way to pick you up so I could get it out of storage, y’know, cuz they put it away during the winter so the cold doesn’t cause the rubber to get all cracked,”

Allison nodded. “So… what are we doing with it?”

“We’re doing… this!” Willy thrust the hose up in the air with exuberance only to pause when he realized his mistake. “One sec,” He scampered back over toward the bleachers, moving with a sort of waddle thanks to all the layers he was wearing. The sight made a smile tug at the corners of Allison’s lips. It must suck to be a cold-blooded swamp monster in the winter but somehow Willy had the same hyper level of energy as always.

Willy was back in a moment, the hose already dripping slightly from the water pressure. “Like I said, we’re doing _this!_ ” Thrusting his hand skyward, Willy pressed the nozzle on the head of the hose, sending tiny streams of water shooting up into the air. As soon as they reached their apex he withdrew the hose and cried, “Hit ‘em, Allie!”

With a flick of the wrist, Allison froze the falling droplets to solid ice. They fell to the ground with a silent plop. The pair stared at them in silence for a moment.

“That. Was. So. Cool!” Willy exclaimed, jumping up and down with glee. “You froze that water like it was nothing!”

“It is nothing,” Allison glanced over at the ice pellets that lay scattered on the ground before them. “They look like ice turds,”

Willy chuckled at the comparison. “I bet we can make them look even cooler! I just need to figure out the settings on this thing and-” he was cut off as a powerful stream of water erupted from the hose, hitting Allison directly in the face. The water froze on impact, covering her entire head in a fractured series of ice crystals.

Willy’s eyes widened as he realized his mistake. “Shit, Allie, I’m sorry! Lemme just… hesitantly he reached forward, pulling on a single piece. It came off effortlessly, the skin below looking as clear and smooth as ever.

“That’s one down. 5,000 more to go,” Allison noted dryly. She could see Willy looked worried at the statement, likely unsure how she was feeling about getting hit in the face. “It’s a joke. I’m bad at them,”

“Oh. Oh!” Willy chuckled in relief. “Thanks for not getting mad,”

“You weren’t mad when I froze you into the pool. How is this any different?”

“Huh. I guess it isn’t. That makes us even then!”

Allison smiled at Willy’s gap-toothed grin. “Cover your face. I’m gonna shake these off,”

Willy complied, immediately hiding his face underneath the confines of his scarf. Allison shook her head vigorously, like a wet dog. The ice crystals went flying everywhere, may sticking all over Willy’s puffy coat and the ear flaps on his cap. Once he sensed it was over, Willy popped out of his fluffy shelter and grinned at his new look. “I’m bedazzled now!”

“You never looked better,” Allison nodded approvingly. “Now what did you actually have in mind with the hose?”

Willy picked up the forgotten hose once more, this time aiming it safely away from the snow maiden. Once he was sure he had the proper setting he turned around. “OK, so the idea I had for your ice powers wasn’t ice turds although that was fun. I wanna go _big_ , with tons of water! That way when you freeze all the water, we’ll have a whole ice sculpture garden!”

Allison’s eyes widened slightly at the thought, a smile flitting across her lips. “I’m in. Let’s do this thing,”

“Awesome! Let’s goooo!!!” Willy shot the hose directly into the air, twirling it like crazy before running out of the path of the falling water. Allison raised her hand and froze the water instantly. The spirals of ice look beautiful as they fell through the air but the entire structure broke into a dozen pieces once it hit the ground.

“Oops,” Willy looked at their shattered art. “Guess I gotta shoot it lower if it’ll last the fall,”

“Or you could aim it in an arc so it ends on the ground. You just have to move the hose in time so I won’t freeze all the water inside it,” Allison gestured to the hose whose dripping faucet was leaking everywhere, including directly onto Willy’s mittens. She didn’t want their fun to suddenly end with a trip to the emergency room and frost burns all over her friend’s hands.

“Yeah, good idea! OK, on the count of three then,” Willy aimed the hose with determination. “One, two… three!”

The arc of water that came from the hose froze perfectly, but immediately plopped on its side instead of sticking to the ground. Allison picked up the giant curved icicle and jammed it into the ground, impaling the frosty AstroTurf. The icicle still slumped over though, a half-hearted version of the glory they aspired to.

“Let’s try it again, this time from the ground up,” Wily suggested, repositioning the hose.

\---

It was a series of trails and errors on their path to success. Dozens of attempts fell flat, broke or turned out as lumpy, gnarled messes. Many times, Willy released the water too soon or Allison got dangerously close to freezing something she shouldn’t. Slowly but surely though, their craft improved till finally they achieved one beautiful, clean arc of frozen water rising proudly from the ground. The pair smiled at each other, sharing a fist bump.

“We finally got it! Now the sculpture garden can really begin!” Willy cheered, running to a fresh patch of snow to begin another work of art. Allison followed along with a grin. They were going to fill this whole field.

\---

They didn’t fill the whole field, but they did cover a good chunk of it: everything within the hose’s range. As their talent improved, Willy and Allison got more and more daring with their designs, building sculptures branching off from others, spiraling and glistening all over the field. Their laughter filled the air as they threw water all over the place, watching it glisten in midair before freezing it in perfect crystalline form. The sun shone down upon their masterpieces, reflecting off the sculptures and bringing their beauty to its full form. The two young teens danced amongst their creations, adding more and more to their garden as the hours whittled away.

At last the light began to fade, all too early in both their opinions. The pair shared a look as they saw the sun beginning to slip behind the walls of Ericson High. Slowly Willy lowered the hose, looking rather glum. “Guess that’s it for the day, huh?”

“We could come back tomorrow and make more,”

His face lit up at Allison’s suggestion. “That’s right, we could! Would you wanna do that?”

“Sure,” Allison shrugged, her body language nonchalant though her eyes betrayed her.

Willy seemed to notice the glisten in them. He smiled all the brighter. “I had buckets of fun today! Seriously, it was the best!”

Allison couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm; it was contagious. “It was pretty cool,”

“Should I walk you home? I know I promised your dad I’d have you back by curfew,”

Allison waved her hand dismissively. “Curfew’s still hours away. He forgot to adjust for Daylight Savings,”

“Still, we should probably get there before it gets pitch dark,” Willy eyed the sun, squinting suspiciously.

Allison chuckled. It was sweet that he was trying to be responsible. “We can take a minute,”

The two stood together surrounded by their ice creations in the light of the setting sun. The dimmer light seemed to lend a different feeling to its reflection against the ice, more thoughtful, almost nostalgic. Their crowning achievement, a massive archway with several intricate offshoots, soared above their heads, magnificent in its presence. It was a thing of beauty. The two young teens looked up at their masterpiece with pride before their eyes caught one another’s and they both suddenly looked away.

“Thanks, for today,” Allison murmured. “I had a good time,”

“Me too,” Willy’s voice was soft for once, almost reflective.

Allison studied the boy’s face, wondering if she should rethink her current inclination. But she wasn’t one to back down. Following her gut, Allison leaned forward and placed a quick kiss upon Willy’s clammy cheek. Her lips left the faintest mark upon his scaly skin before fading away.

Willy’s eyes widened in shock. He was still for a moment, almost as frozen as their sculptures. Then a goofy chuckle escaped his lips. “I knew it! I knew you liked me!”

Allison shrugged happily, smiling at him. “You got me,”

Willy surged forward, planting an enthusiastic, wet kiss upon Allison’s cheek, the mark freezing instantly against her skin. “I like you too,”

“So… this was our first date then?” Allison asked, looking down with a small smile as she traced the mark on her cheek.

“I guess it was. Did you like it?” Willy asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

“Best first date I ever had,”

Willy giggled happily at her words. He eagerly took her hand in his, his mitten feeling warm against her cold skin. “We can walk extra slow on the way back,”

“I’d like that,” Allison gave Willy’s hand the softest squeeze before they began to walk together. Hand in hand they left the sculpture garden behind, the ice still subtly glistening in the evening light. The world was still, nothing existing but the two of them as they exited the field at a slow meander. They were all but gone when suddenly a shout broke through the air.

“Shit, I forgot to put away the hose!”


End file.
